Amazon's Kindle Fire tablets are some of the best, most affordable Android tablets out there. Whether you're buying the budget $139 Kindle Fire HD, the faster $229 Kindle Fire HDX, or the big-screen, $379 Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, you're getting a tremendous value for your money. But there's one thing you must give up: access to the million apps in the Google Play Store. The Kindle Fire tablets use Amazon's Appstore instead, which has many, but not all of those Google Play Apps.
But that's OK. If you have any other Android device and a PC or Mac around, you can use free tools to load almost any free Android app onto the Kindle Fire. You don't need to hack, alter, or root your phone or tablet to do this, and Amazon doesn't oppose sideloading apps.
The Kindle Fire can install any app in the standard Android APK format, but I strongly suggest only installing apps you've moved over from a phone or downloaded from a major app store. You can find APKs downloadable from many pirate sites on the Internet, but I don't recommend that, even for free apps.
Why not? Developers can't track APKs that are just floating around the Net, so they don't know their apps are being used. That discourages developers, especially small developers, from upgrading and making new apps. Peer-to-peer app piracy sites are also sinks of malware, as they have none of the safeguards you'll find on an app store.
If you're interested in the full Google Play experience on your Kindle Fire, you can root it and install Google services. That will void your warranty, Amazon's Mayday support system won't help you any more, and it takes some technical knowledge. The brave or geeky should check out this XDA-Developers forum thread for the instructions.
Otherwise, here's how to move your app from another Android device to a Kindle Fire. (If you're interested in great Kindle Fire apps overall, read The 30 Best Kindle Fire Apps.)
Continue Reading: Installing the Apps, Step by Step>